Americas

Private-equity groups and other have investors have committed roughly $515 million to recapitalize the ailing First BanCorp in San Juan, P.R., setting the stage for the $15 billion-asset company to convert its preferred stock owned by the Treasury Department into common stock.

CenterState Banks Inc. in Davenport, Fla., has sold off a chunk of nonperforming loans in a deal that it says would free up capital that it could use for future expansion.

First PacTrust Bancorp in Chula Vista, Calif., said late Tuesday that it expects to raise about $31.5 million from selling common stock.

The struggling Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin reported a loss of $21.7 million for the quarter that ended March 31, narrowing losses by 27% from a year earlier.

The Fed announced written agreements with four banking companies: Southern Community (N.C.), First Community (Texas), First Chatsworth (Ga.) and First National (Ala.)

Despite pleas by the credit union lobby, Gov. Scott Walker signed a state budget bill with a measure making it easier for credit unions to convert to banks.

Richard M. Riccobono, the former chief executive at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle and one-time deputy director at the Office of Thrift Supervision, has landed a new job as the chief banking regulator in Washington State.

Cash-strapped Santa Lucia Bancorp in Atascadero, Calif., has called off its plan to raise capital through a stock offering because it has found a buyer instead.

Urban Partnership Bank has spent nearly a year finding ways to continue ShoreBank's mission of banking the underserved while also avoiding the failed bank's fate.

Pioneer Bank in Dripping Springs, Texas, said it was cleared to receive about $3 million from the program, according to Monday's online edition of the Austin Business Journal. The $106.4 million-asset bank is expected to swap preferred stock for SBLF funds.